Capitol Hill Times: Sustained effort could abate hate-based violence

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“It feels like this is a really timely topic but, unfortunately, it’s not a new topic,” said moderator Pamela Banks, president of the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle. Banks rattled off several recent high profile shootings, including the Pulse massacre — which primarily targeted Hispanic lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people — and the 2015 mass shooting of the black congregation of Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in 2008. She added that 2016 marked 10 years from the March 2006 “Capitol Hill massacre,” in which a shooter killed six attendees of a rave afterparty on East Republican Street.

“It’s striking to me that all of these are happening in what are supposed to be safe events,” Banks said. “These are crimes that are meant to terrorize our communities.”

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While hate-motivated violence has become more visible than ever thanks to social media and its potential for live reporting, panelists agreed only a sustained effort could actually abate violence.